China’s hostile welcome for Blinken highlights its out-of-control hubris

News Snapshot:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just wrapped up his three-day visit to China. Despite his hopeful words, it does not appear he made substantive progress on core issues. No surprise for the apparent lack of success. For one thing, Beijing had signaled that talks would be difficult. Earlier in the week, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy launched a JL-2 intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine. The JL-2 is designed to deliver a one-megaton nuclear warhead. The launch was ostensibly connected to the Chinese Navy’s 75th anniversary celebration, but observers saw the event as a warning to the...